WARRNAMBOOL boxer Gabrielle Brown has claimed the bronze medal at the national amateur championships in Adelaide.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Brown, boxing in the 75-kilogram division, picked up the medal after losing a spirited bout to New South Wales fighter Jessica Messina 19 points to 13.
But her Warrnambool coach Rodney Ryan said Brown fought brilliantly.
He said the rookie took a bit of the first round to work into the fight but appeared to have won the bout with a determined performance.
He said two judges awarded the fight to her and three gave it to her opponent.
“The scoring didn’t really tell the story,” Ryan said.
He said under the rules, highest and lowest rounds were discarded.
“They are actually reviewing the scoring system after that,” he said.
“Gabby was awesome.”
He said Brown, who won the Victorian title to qualify and entered the national showdown with just one fight behind her, was determined to continue a career in the ring.
He said the university student was pleased with her performance.
“It was an unusual scoring situation but it can happen in boxing. Unfortunately this time we were on the wrong end, but sometimes we are on the other side.”
Warrnambool teenager Isaac O’Rourke was impressive in a tough youth 60kg division loss to world champion New South Wales fighter Lynken Dickson, 13 points to 10.
O’Rourke led after the first round, the second was even and Dickson claimed the final round.
“He did a really good job. He was up against a world champion, a bloke who had 20 fights,” Ryan said.
“The experience they (Brown and O’Rourke) get out of this will be the making of them. They have stayed on and have been training and sparring with other fighters who were eliminated.
“It’s been a really good experience. The kids are keen to come back next year.”
Ryan said both Brown and O’Rourke would return home better fighters.